Russian Betting Volume to Triple In Five Years

The regulated sports betting industry of Russia may triple its total turnover in the coming five years. This will be as a result of new sports betting entrants as well as upcoming high-profile sporting events such as the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The gambling affiliate for Russia, Bookmarkers Ratings, issued a report recently that pegged the annual turnover or the sports betting industry in Russia at US$11,75 billion (NZ$16,18 billion). More so, the Russian-licensed operators claim 60% of that money. The yearly betting revenue in Russia, with 144 million people, it is estimated to be around US$816 million (NZ$1 123 billion).

Furthermore, the report states that approximately 65% of sports bettors continue to gamble at unauthorised international online sports betting sites. The president of Bookmarker, Yuri Krasovsky estimated that it’s almost 80% of sports bettors in Russia that continue to patronise illegal online gambling casinos.

Currently, there are about 29 licensed online gambling operators, and only 11 of them are licensed and are legal online gambling operators. GVC Holdings, a UK online casino operator, was the first international online sports betting operator that recently licensed one of its brands to operate in the Russian market.

The Future of Sports Betting in Russia

In the near future, if the new legislation to prohibit VPN (Virtual Private Network) in Russia is passed, it will be challenging for Russian players to access illegal sports betting websites.

This bill has already been scheduled for the first reading this month. The law will ban the use of VPNs and force all internet search engines to restrict access to websites that promote the use of VPNs.

At Kiwi Casinos, it is our top priority to inform players in New Zealand with the slightest of changes that occur in the realm of online gambling. And we will always do our best to keep New Zealanders in the loop.